


Stupid Rotten Luck

by Dyslexic0writes



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Dark Magic, Gen, Gun Violence, Homeless Billy Batson, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Kidnapping, Magic-Users, Mind Manipulation, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Secret Identity, Street Kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:13:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25206028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dyslexic0writes/pseuds/Dyslexic0writes
Summary: He only had two goals, don't get mugged and don't get caught by the bats. Unfortunately Billy had this amazing talent of getting himself into horrible situations, so when he goes on a trip to Gotham everything spirals down hill. Not only dose he keep running into the same man but also an odd vigilante he'd never met before.(On Temporary hiatus)*dont worry I’ll be back*
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Billy Batson, Billy Batson & Jason Todd
Comments: 129
Kudos: 540





	1. Don't Get Mugged!

**Author's Note:**

> Its my birthday today so here is a gift to you... my crappy writing!
> 
> I have a vague idea of what's gonna happen but this is my first multi chapter fic so it might suck.

Billy had this amazing talent of getting himself into horrible situations, it wasn't a blessing to always magically be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Maybe it was some secret additional part to bing Captain Marvel like wisdom, strength, stamina, lightning, courage, speed and stupid rotten luck. Maybe he missed that part when he first met the wizard although he honestly should’ve expected it, venture into the unknown and expect trouble or at the very least a minor inconvenience. 

He hadn’t ever been to Gotham well at least not as Billy Batson, when he was there it was to meet Batman’s group. A quick in and out before the man and his creepy side kicks steal his kneecaps or something. 

One could only assume Batman lied about not being a vampire just to make sure no one brought stakes or garlic into a fight, he is that paranoid. The only one that wasn’t completely disturbing was Batgirl, a sweet bubbly blond girl who even though he knew could kick his ass any day was acting less threatening than Robin. 

Freaky to think how Robin and him are close to the same age the kid was practically foaming at the mouth with rage. Looked ready to stab Captain Marvel along with everyone else in a hundred mile radius the only thing holding him back was most likely Nightwing. 

Cap had met Nightwing before briefly in the watch tower but seeing him in Gotham just added an edge to him that he hadn't seen in the talkative raven before. 

But that's besides the point, at the moment Billy was on a train which started somewhere up north and passed through Fawcett where he hopped on. It went through Metropolis where most of the passengers got off and made a couple more stops around places in between like Brooklyn before stopping in Gotham where Billy got off. 

He spent a month doing every odd job possible to save up enough money to get to Gotham after running out of supplies for his magic practice. Unfortunately the only store in Fawcett got blown up after a pretty intense attack by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. 

Now he was in Gotham looking for some sketchy witches shop called the Broom Closet. To say Billy was nervous was an understatement not in the sense that he was a kid wandering around an unfamiliar crime ridden place that hardly bothered him. He was a street kid after all, and as peppy as Fawcett looks it still had a lot of crime. 

No, the part that bothered him was the fact that he was on Batman’s turf and even though technically speaking he wasn’t a meta human he had a feeling Batman wouldn’t care. 

Just thinking about Batman sent a shiver down his spine the man hated that he didn’t know Captain Marvel's secret ID and he knew everyone’s even Superman's. He tried to pry the information out of Cap using every tactic he had bad cop, good cop and all the freaky mind tricks. He'd even gotten Nightwing in on it until the man started to feel bad about bugging Cap so frequently. 

The worst example was when he tried to scare the answers out of him thankfully courage of achilles is good for something and Batman got no info from him, unfortunately Billy had bat themed nightmares for weeks. 

No matter how spooky the guy was, that didn’t matter; he's already walking out of the train station onto the busy street. Seeing Gotham from the ground was a lot different than up on top of a tower, even though the clouds were overcast it was still semi sunny leaving the gothic architecture looking not as creepy as it probably would at night. 

If the train hadn't been so rickety and old Billy would’ve arrived at Gotham faster instead of 4pm but the new faster train was unsurprisingly more expensive. The one he'd taken was older so it went to and from places slower. Once he was off the train it had already left making a continuous back and forth from Gotham to who knows where. 

He only had two goals, don't get mugged and don't get caught by the bats. Those goals were going to be very trying as the train wasn't going to come until later the next day and Billy couldn't risk getting caught flying home, which left him having to spend the night on the Gotham streets. 

Looking around for the shop was a nightmare he was incredibly lost and there was no way to ask any of the other civilians for help. They were all defensive and if a street kid like Billy walked up to one of them they’d probably assume he was gonna pickpocket them. 

His best bet was to stay on the rougher parts of gotham, if he tried wandering around the nicer parts no doubt one of the richer folk would call the police if he so much as breathed the wrong way there all distrustful even if he is just a kid. 

He hates to think bad of people he doesn't know but it's a fact Gotham breeds the worst socialites, gossip spreads faster than the plague. They're all looking to cause a scene or nab the right attention, some go as far to say all attention is good attention and Billy has to wholeheartedly disagree with that notion all together. 

So he just continued head down and hands to himself staring at the address messily scrawled down on scrap paper. He’d found the place while searching on one of the library computers, it was the only magic shop in Gotham that’s on map no doubt there’s probably more hidden ones around. When looking in Metropolis he'd only found fake magic stores targeted towards children and illusionists nothing close to the supply store in Fawcett. Gotham only had one result for magic shops and as much as he'd love not to be in the city he felt awful asking zatanna for more supplies the stuff isn't cheap. 

Since he made such a long trip he doubled what he was going to buy. He needed more candles, Thyme, Rosemary, Lemon balm, black salt, hawthorn berries, and natural hag stones. Most of the things were for personal practice, some were for later work with Constantine and although the older man was probably just teasing about Billy “using up all his bloody supplies” it would ease the boys conscious bringing his own things. 

Though Chas might hound Constantine for making Billy use his own things. He honestly didn't mind. He didn't have a job at Whiz radio for nothing, of course they didn't pay him as much as they should just because he's a kid but they can't fire him because of his ‘ties’ to Captain Marvel. They can still underpay him though just to take this trip Billy spent weeks mowing lawns and delivering papers even washed a couple cars. 

His best customers were often elderly women who insisted he had a snack to go with his payment. He'd enjoy the snack while they'd go on and on about some random grandson or famous person he looked or acted just like according to them, though he highly doubted that one of the old ladys even mistook him for a girl. 

Who would've known that the saying ‘Gotham breeds em different’ extended to old ladys. Billy doesn't have xray vision but he was fairly certain the old woman he just passed most likely had a brick or two in her purse to add an extra punch. 

After an hour of walking in a helplessly lost circle he started to feel like someone was watching him. Just his luck to catch the eye of muggers and unfortunately he didn't have the luxury of turning the corner and shazam-ing it up, in Fawcett yeh Metropolis maybe some raised brows but not Gotham he could not stress this enough how much Gotham sucks (sorry bats). 

Billy gradually started to pick up the pace. Hopefully he could find a dumpster to hide in or a fire escape to climb, jump some roofs and find a nice place to duck for a moment. 

His walk turned into speed walking, which switched to jogging and eventually he was full out running, it was only 5pm and he knew he was gonna get mugged and stranded in Gotham. In a desperate attempt to stop that whole chain of events Billy clutched his backpack straps tightly and took a sharp turn into an ally. Immediately slamming into something large and tumbling back onto his butt. 

That something actually turned out to be a someone when they spoke “Shit! Kid, you alright?”


	2. It was All Going So Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bit longer of a chapter so I hope you enjoy!

For a guy who died and came back he was having a surprisingly good day, things were looking up. Bruce had been off his back for months ever since he started to “play nice”; they've even been working together on a new case. 

His neighbors in his apartment complex finally finished renovations so he's finally going to be able to sleep. He won 25$ off a scratcher and 7eleven’s card machine broke so he got his slurpee for free. He doesn't know what he did to make the universe start working in his favour but he should do it more often. 

It was getting late and even though the sun was still up every few minutes a cloud would drift past plunging the streets into darkness, nothing new for Gotham. 

He was almost back to his apartment with his delicious slurpee composed of every flavour the store had, when he decided to spare some time and take a short cut down an alley. 

Because all good things happen in alley’s…. right?

Jason wasn't in a hurry to get back so his walk was more of a slow stroll, enjoying the sun peaking over the buildings in the distance. Soon it would be sunset and he'd need to be suiting up for work but for now he enjoyed the crunch of his boots against the ground. 

His gaze drifted over the rainwashed posters haphazardly stuck to the brick walls, most of them were for missing children which switched his brain back to work mode the sooner he got home the sooner he could continue his investigation.

Though as soon as he got to the end of the alley someone took a sharp turn around the corner and ran straight into Jason dumping the freezing beverage all over his favorite sweater. 

He wanted to get mad but seeing that it was just a kid made his brain switch course. “Shit! Kid, you alright?” If this was anyone else he'd probably start yelling about his drink spilling everywhere but what could he say the Red Hood had a soft spot for kids. Especially street kids and from the looks of it this kid had been on the streets for years.

Poor kid looked terrified sitting on the ground staring straight up like Jason was going to beat the crap outta him, especially when a guy rounded the corner to grab the short stack.

The man who looked ragged, an honest mess. He didn't need to be a detective to tell the man was an alcoholic, he reeked of alcohol and the beer stains on his coat were sending red flags everywhere. Did the kid know this man?

From the looks of it probably not, the drunken man hauled the kid up by the caller while the child just helplessly flailed around to escape.

And god what is this... emotions? Gross.

He acts just like me.? But smaller is this what Bruce feels? 

Without hesitation he grabs the arm of the guy holding up the kid. “Hey! Leave my brother alone jerk wad” He demanded lying through his teeth.

“Hey! buzz off man this kid owesss me!” The drunken man slurred out. 

“Tim, where have you been, moms been looking everywhere for you!” he pretended to scold. 

Great of course he thought of the replacement, the kid looked like dickface and replacement mashed together with mannerisms of himself.

“Look man, whatever the kid did just leave it. Our uhh… mom ill hound em for you. kids a trouble maker what can I say.”

“I didn't do nothing! Leave me alone!” The kid was attempting to hit the man but he was all skin and bones so he could barely pack a punch, fortunately Jason could pack a punch. 

As Jason took a swing for the dude's face the kid was dropped onto the ground roughly.

The man's face went completely flush as he pulled out a gun, yelling some crap about the kid owing him. The way he held the gun indicated he’d never shot the thing in his life, or at the very least was too drunk to shoot it right. 

Did the kid steal something? He looked like Jason before Bruce took him in and if that said anything it meant the kid probably stole something he shouldn't have.

Jason grabbed the kid by the arm pulling him up into his feet away from the guy.

The drunken man started to get pretty mad and accused Jason of not actually knowing the kid which was true but not the point.

With his hand still firmly on the kid he elbowed the guy in the stomach causing him to drop his shaky hand on the gun, falling forward onto his hands. Man looked ready to spill his lunch so Jason proceeded to give a good kick to his head to knock him out. 

All the while the little gremlin was pushing and clawing at Jason's hand only stopping when the man dropped. 

“Oh my gods! Did you kill him!?” The boy screeched out.

“No I didn’t kill him, Jesus” Jason rolled his eyes, turning to fully face the kid in his grasp. 

“I’m not giving you anything. Let go!” The kid's assault on Jason’s hand didn’t stop and he couldn’t help but sigh, his day was going so good now his drink is all over him and this feisty kid was gonna get hurt. 

So he let go and the kid stumbled back to get as much distance as possible. “Oh thanks Jason! How kind of you, you're a saint” Jason muttered to himself sarcastically crossing his arms to now get a better look at the kid. Definitely a street kid but he didn’t have an accent so maybe run away to gotham or… visiting.. kidnapped here? 

“I don’t want anything from you kid.” He clarified crouching down to pick up the gun mumbling “free gun” 

He had a couple of questions for the kid for starters maybe a ‘what's your name?’ couldn't keep calling him ‘kid’ but when he turned around no one was there. 

Figures.

That just leaves him to clean up his slurpee drenched sweater, so much for the best day ever. 

\-------------------------------------

Oh no no no no!

Billy was running at full speed away from the large man with the black hair in complete panic.

In Billy’s mortal form it was hard to read auras without a spell but that man's aura was seeping to everything he touched. It would have looked normal if it wasn't entangled with death and some disturbingly green colour. 

The horrifying green was leeching to everything he touched like its own sentient being, if the man knew what was infecting his aura maybe he'd keep his hands to himself. 

Billy was scared if he held onto his arm any longer that his magic would involuntarily try to zap him away. In all honesty Billy didn't know what was up with his aura, not even Constantines looked like that and John was an avid dark magic user. 

Billy had no intention of sticking around long enough to find out why his aura was like that, he could only imagine what state his soul was in.

That guy was definitely bad news and must've been ripped too or something because he just knocked someone out in two seconds flat. He was thankful for being saved but he had nothing to repay him with. Billy honestly didn't want to wait to see what the guy was actually like because no one's aura just casually looks like that. 

He was running until he made it into a nicer area of town, exactly where he said he wasn't going to go. Stopping on the sidewalk exhausted he pulled off his backpack to shove his red sweater in, all the running left billy feeling hot even with the cool breeze of gotham. 

His breathing was labored as he huffed and gasped for air desperately trying to sooth the tightness in his chest. The drunken man who had just tried to mug him was a bit too eerily familiar to one of Uncle Ebenezer’s friends. A large man named Charlie who enjoyed teasing Billy whenever he visited for drinks. 

The man often always had one to many which led to him moping to Uncle Ebenezer about wanting a kid like Billy so his house wouldn't be so lonely. The encounters always put Billy on edge with the large man breathing down his neck, the disgusting stench of alcohol wafting around wherever he went.

Billy just had to remind himself that he hadn't seen Charlie since he'd gotten kicked out after the inheritance got handed over to his uncle, but the resemblance left the boy feeling paranoid that Charlie would turn the corner any moment. 

Billy gripped his chest thinking back to one of the grounding exercises a teen hed met on the streets had taught him.  
He took a deep breath in and looked around, he could see a stroller, car, purse, fire hydrant and a dog. He took deep breaths while saying each thing he saw taking the time to say them without a shake or stutter in his voice.

Deep breath in. 

And out, he could feel his grey shirt and the straps of his backpack, he could feel the wind on his face and the sidewalk under his shoes. 

Deep breath in. 

And out, he could hear the birds in the trees along with the shake of the leaves and the chatter of people walking past him.

Deep breath in. 

And out, he could smell the burn of cigarettes and the warm bread from a bakery across the street. 

Deep breath in. 

And out, he could taste the tang of the orange he'd eaten on the train, Billy took one last deep breath and set his brain back on track to finding this store. Moving into the flow of people walking he took the opportunity to get a better sense on where he was.

He was definitely in a nicer area, lots of people were walking about and there were more higher end clothing stores with weird french names and cafes around that were bustling with people. He was just about to head back to the sketcher parts when he noticed an electronics store. 

Normally he wouldn't dare go waltzing into a store with such expensive things but if he used one of the testing computers he could find directions to the store.  
Walking in he took a quick glance at the tons of different computers, phones and other electronics set up un display. 

One of the displays was advertising some new high end product with a ridiculously high price tag but for some reason most of the people were in the store to get it. It was beyond Billy why those people needed a new phone, from the looks of it everyone in the crowd had a phone that worked perfectly fine though to sum it up...

Rich people.

There had to be at least twenty customers in the store but he managed to squeeze past the large group surrounding the display and to the computer area. Most of the computers were odd and complex, with rearranged keyboards and massive screens; they all had the same slogan postered next to the price about the future of technologie. 

Thankfully there were a couple more normal looking computers, he ended up using some Wayne Tech laptop where he started typing in the name that was on the crumpled paper. While typing his gaze drifted to the price tag and he now understood why that wayne guy was so rich Billy felt nervous even looking at the thing, with a price like that seriously all he could think was…

Rich. People. 

The wifi was fast as his search popped up quickly, just his luck the store was on the other side of town. Why hadn't he thought of doing more research before coming all the way over to gotham. 

Seriously batson use your head he scolded subconsciously, taking out a pencil he started writing down more information only to be jarred out of his thoughts by screaming. 

“Everyone! Back of the store, now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Tell me if you see any mistakes, I ended up writing a lot so the next chapter might be coming very soon!


	3. He Was Scared Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI I have zero gun knowledge.

The gods had to be testing him or something because at this point it was just ridiculous. 

Blocking the entryway to the store was a large group of gunmen about eleven in total all in animal masks. 

A man in a pristine suit and a white rabbits mask stepped forward, hefting up his gun continuing to yell for everyone to move to the back. The other members, not as nicely dressed but all in different animal masks started walking forward with their guns pointed at everyone. 

This had to be some twisted joke of fate that he'd escaped being mugged only to walk into a store about to get robbed. Seriously was this normal for Gotham or was Billy cursed.

Maybe he should've looked for a library to do research, surely no one would rob a library… right?

What was he supposed to do? Maybe he could go through a staff door and shazam it up, take on the group. Though he wasn't sure if he could handle them all without one of the other civilians getting shot. 

So he went to the corner with the rest of the frightened people like a good little hostage, hopefully the police would come then with their help he'd be able to handle the gunmen.

Screw being worried about batman and secret identities people were in danger!

He honestly didn't want to risk the other shoppers getting shot and Captain Marvel making a surprise appearance in Gotham didn't sound like a good plan. Sitting quietly he tried to come up with a better plan than the one he had, if only the wisdom of Solomon transferred over to his mortal form.

Two men, one in a horse and one a pigeon started zip tying everyone's wrists together while a guy in a goat mask kept a gun pointed at everyone in case anyone tried anything funny. 

When the man with the horse mask finished zip tying Billy's wrists what he could assume was the leader due to the suit. Who Billys just decided to call Rabbit Man stood in the middle of the store while the horse and pigeon man kept watch over the hostages. 

The rest of them were throwing everything into bags starting with the phone display everyone was previously marveling over.

Tension was tight in the air as he mentally went through all the gods that he could’ve pissed off to become this unlucky.

Billy hunched into himself as the sound of glass shattering filled the room, the men were quickly and efficiently filling the bags as others smashed all the display cases. It looked like they mostly wanted to make a scene rather than steal the goods, as they were tagging the walls and floor with bright pink spray paint. 

Nothing meaningful more just for the sake of ruining the store.

Billy needed to find a way out, he had his justice league communicator at the bottom of his bag but to get it he'd need to open it and the two men guarding the hostages looked jumpy. Their shoulders stiff indicating they may be trigger happy and he was not planning on getting shot today, plus there was the issue of how he'd get a message across with his hands tied. 

Billy was the youngest in the store maybe if he started a commotion? 

Maybe he could pretend to be having an allergic reaction and say he needed his epipen that's in his bag …. No that wouldn't work.

Maybe he could knock out one of the guards with a spell, surely that would distract the other guard. 

But to be able to do a sleep spell he'd have to stay as focused as possible to make sure it's just a sleep spell and he doesn't accidentally put the man in acoma. 

Though with the people around him id be risky as Captain Marvel magic came as easy as a thought but as Billy Batson it took time and practice. Unfortunately two months of magic practice with Constantine doesn't make him a master.

Maybe he could set something on fire? He was good at that, if all the scorch marks in the house of mystery had something to say… no that would just further endanger the hostages.

Billy sat there quietly trying to come up with any idea to fix this situation when he noticed the masked men starting to work faster.

They started shoving things into bags frantically as red and blue started flashing from the window, relife flooded his body... but no one entered.

It made sense there were twenty plus hostages so the cops couldent waltz in but he was getting antsy playing the waiting game. Billy could only hope none of the bats would come to help and the cops could handle the situation. 

A voice from outside piped up from a megaphone yelling that he was the commissioner and for them to just surrender. But by the way the Rabbit Man was standing indicated he wasn't the least bit concerned and neither were his acomplisits as they didnt stop piling merchandise into the bags. 

The Rabbit Man strolled over to the hostages, some shifted uncomfortably others huddled closer together as the man scanned over everyone.

He walked around the group huddled on the floor and stopped at every few people to take a longer look at them.  
Then he suddenly snapped his fingers and pointed straight at Billy; he felt his blood run cold. Now was not the time for panicking but his heart was beating so harshly in his chest it felt like it was going to jump right out. 

Horse man hauled him up by the arm and dragged him over to Rabbit Man, one hand firmly on Billys arm and the other squishing Billy's cheeks. “The kid ‘ll be good for demands, fools wouldn't dare hurt a kid.” Horseman stated confidently moving the boys head side to side.

In a moment of sheer panic and utter frustation Billy made a stupid disition quickly moving his head and biting down hard on the mans fingers. Horseman let go of him forcefully, muttering every swear he could possibly think of, drawing his gun. 

What came next was loud and terrifying, leaving an unpleasant ringing in his ears. He heard the sound from a distance but when it's inches away from you it's a whole new feeling. 

See the thing is Captain Marvel is bullet proof unfortunately Billy Batson is not and gods he did not expect it to hurt that bad. He fell on his back as the hostages started screaming out in fear. 

And who could blame em, he was scared too.

It was like everything was passing by slowly but not at the same time, his brain couldn't stop panicking thinking over and over ‘oh no. no, no this can't be happening!’ 

The initial shock left him numb as he reached down with his bound hands to gingerly touch the blood now staining his light gray t-shirt.

He rolled over onto his side, tears falling freely gasping harshly as he looked down his grey shirt which was now staining with red as his blood pooled out creating a dark red spot onto the fabric.

His mind was blazing in panic and fear of death now would've been a great time to say the wizard's name. But the Rabbit Man seemed to not care that Billy was bleeding out as he slapped some duct tape over Billy's mouth and hauled him up to stand.

The action startled the small boy out of the bloody hayze he was in to thrust him into unbearable pain as the Rabbit Man dragged him to the door to start the demands.

His side felt like it was burning, like an insufferable blister rubbing deep into him. In that moment all he could think about was the feeling, like two wounds rubbing together washing a nauseating feeling over his entire body. While his stomach was hot with blood his face was pale and cold like when he'd gotten a fever.

It was terrifying seeing so much of his own blood so suddenly.

Billy's hearing was muffled by ringing and his vision blurry with sticky tears, and yeh he was crying but who cares he wasn't captain right now. The only thing actually keeping him up was the firm grip of the Rabbit Man who now had put a gun to Billys head. 

He hadn't noticed before it was as if his brain was lagging but at the same time paying immense attention to many things like the metal muzzle of the cold gun firmly pushed against his temple. 

Why did books make characters shrug off bullet wounds like they were nothing!?

Who knew being shot in the stomach would be so painful! 

Living on the streets left Billy banged up by all sorts of things but the pain from such a close range bullet was blazing in his core. Not to mention having a man drag him around like a ragdoll while he yelled demands just made it ten times worse.

His feet wouldn't listen to him and the thrum of pain was excruciating, if he could get the duct tape off his mouth he'd be able to heal himself but moving his mouth and pushing his tongue against the tape did nothing to get the sticky substance off. 

After failing miserably to get the tape off he refocused his attention to the man who was currently dragging him around. 

“I want a getaway car and 10 mil and I won't hurt the hostages” he yelled to the police officers who were all pointing their guns at the man he shook Billy a bit before adding “well atleast anymore, times ticking who knows how long the kid could last.”

The last part just furthered the pit of unease the boy had forming in his stomach. How long could he last, the blood was already staining a large portion of his shirt and even was staining his pants by this point.

Rabbit Man backed slowly into the store with the gun still firmly to Billy’s temple. 

The cops didn't look worried, maybe he shouldn't be too worried, who was he kidding though he was doomed.

Once he was safely in the store he strode over to the rest of the hostages.

Billy landed off to the side a bit away from the huddled group most likely so no one could help him.

It was getting hard to stay focused as his mind drifted only to be shocked back into panic by the uproar of noise which just made his new found headache worse and… wait… was that? 

Crap. 

Batman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope it was ok. I had the worst time trying to punctuate this chapter but here it is.


	4. Hello Kitty Band Aid's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this chapter tomorrow but I'm impatient so here it is :)

He only had two goals, don’t get mugged and don’t get caught by Batman and even though technically he didn’t get mugged he’d much prefer losing all his possessions to being in a room with Batman. (sorry bats) 

The worst part was the longer he laid there the more the people fighting turned into blobs. He kept sluggishly blinking to try and clear his sight but it did no good. He took a sharp breath in as he shifted himself into a sitting position against the wall, knees tucked under his chin.

Now being able to focus a bit more he noticed it wasn't just Batman but also Robin and Nightwing.

Rabbit Man ordered his men forward as he backed from the group of bats all in position to fight. Gun fire blazed Throughout the store causing more glass to shatter and some lights to go out which inevitably would work out in the bats favour seeing as he works better in the dark. 

From how the men were fighting he’d assume they were too freaked to care about what they shot. Nightwing took a swinging kick to one of the men’s hands causing them to drop the gun, without a beat of hesitation he'd swung around the man elbowing him in the shoulder effectively knocking him unconscious. 

On the other side of the room was Robin, honestly watching the kid work was terrifying and yet mesmerizing at the same time. He was like some kind of ninja weaving between four men who were all trying and failing to catch him. 

Using his small size to his advantage he tripped a man then jumped onto another guys shoulders to launch himself into another mans face. His attacks were quick and precise as he snarked witty remarks at his opponents.

And I’m sorry but is this kid from the fourteenth century? What kid says ‘tasteless dribble’ in a conversation. 

In the Center of the battle was the one and only Batman watching him work was always a delight and pleasure but at the moment all Billy could do was groan. Watching the man fight with all the fun gadgets he held was amazing to see but he really didn’t want to be here.

The dynamic duo as the press likes to call them continued plowing through thugs while Nightwing slipped away from the fight to start cutting hostates free. using a batarang to free the people he worked quickly as the civilians expressed their gratitude. 

One woman probably in her late 40s grabbed onto Nightwing crying out her thanks and where if Billy was in Nightwing place he’d feel kind of awkward the raven simply reassured her while slipping out of her grasp to continue freeing people. 

A loud crash sound though the store as Robin fell against one of the ruined displays. Seven of the eleven gunmen were unconscious scattered about the ground as the remaining three continued to fight. 

Wait, remaining three…? Eleven in total.

Seven plus three... 

The realization hits him with the sound of a clicking gun to his temple. 

Rabbit Man, how could he have forgotten the man didn’t have a scratch on him as he left his men to do all the real fighting. He was most likely desperate at this point and Billy once again got thrown into a hostage role. Now with an even bigger spotlight on him with a bat audience.

The last three men were now left with their buddies unconscious on the floor, while Rabbit Man got the attention on him with a firm grip on Billy. With a gun to the child’s temple he backed cautiously to the back exit of the store, stopping to make the horrible decision to threaten Batman. 

“I’m going out the back, no one is going to follow me. Got it? Or the kid gets a bullet!” 

“Looks like he already got one.” Robin drawled an unimpressed look plastered on, eyeing the large blood stain on Billy’s side. Batman didn't look pleased by Robin's statement as he grit his teeth as sent Robin a chilling glare. 

“Shut it smart mouth!” Rabbit Man snarled, pressing the metal harder into his temple it felt as if he pushed any harder I'd leave a permanent mark.

Billy was really pushing his strength at the moment, the adrenaline rush being the only thing keeping him from passing out in the man's grip. Every movement he made jostled the wound in his side and sent a new flair of pain.

All he could think bitterly was about how he’d never be able to get the stain off his shirt, good thing he’d put his sweater in his backpack it was his favourite one.

His mind was wondering a bit while the Rabbit Man's yelling increased. He had faith Batman could get him out but at the moment they were at a stand still all three vigilantes ready to fight but not reaching for any weapons quite yet. 

It was fast one moment he was being held by a man with a gun the next Black Bat dropped from the roof knocking the gun away and landing on the man. 

Billy stumbled forward instantly getting grabbed by Nightwing and was pulled away. His backpack was removed as he got laid onto his back while the older raven instantly started putting pressure on the wound. He tried to get up but was gently pushed down onto his back. 

“Hey, it'll be alright. Just need you to stay put for me, alright?” Billy simply gave him a shaky nod to be honest he was kinda relieved Nightwing was there too. He couldn't deal with just Batman and Robin at the moment and with the few times he'd seen all three of them together it was kinda a given the man was a mediator for the two brooding birds.

He turned his head to see that the other hostages were being led out by Robin who didn’t look pleased with the job. Turing his face back up he was met with the one and only Batman. (hooray?) 

Billy let out a muffled scream duck tape still blocking any actual communication; the larger man seemed unfazed by the boy's startled reaction. Simply removing the tape and cutting the zip tie off of him. 

Instincts of pure panic over rid him now that he'd been freed as he started to call the wizards name only to quickly slap his hand over his mouth to stop himself. It probably sounded like he was going to swear but that didn’t matter; he couldn’t transform in front of everyone.

He had to rationalize as long as Batman doesn't see him transform he'll never know. 

Of course the man looked mildly amused, though if you hadn’t interacted with him before I’d be hard to catch as he went back to his normal neutral face. This whole interaction was distracting him enough to not care about whatever Nightwing was doing to his side. 

Black Bat who’d he’d forgotten was there and seemed to appear out of thin air, he had to take a moment to do a double take. How were they not metahumans? It's like they just ‘hand wavy magic’ appear out of nowhere. 

Black Bat simply gestured over to the now cuffed men only to start creepily staring at Billy who was more freaked at Batman being so close to him. 

Though creepy girl who seems to see through his soul even though he can't see her face was starting to make him twitchy.

“Scared.” She said and he had to admit it was the first thing he'd ever heard the girl say. Batman just grunted in response then crouched down next to Billy “Please stop moving buddy. I’m not going to hurt you, you're injured. I just want to help.” 

Did Billy just hear that right..? Surely the blood loss is making him loopy because batman, 

The Batman. 

Did not just say ‘please’ and ‘buddy’ in a sentence. 

That wasn't batman. no, that was a white dad after their kids soccer game ready to put a hello kitty bandaid on a scraped knee. Definitely not the dark vigilante who can scare someone with the courage of achilles and take down everyone in the justice league.

This had to be some freaky hallucination or an odd dream. Maybe he accidentally teleported to another dimension, he had managed to do that one too many times.

There was no malice or scowl coming from the man, where’s the anger!?.. and the brooding!? 

His heart was pounding as the Bat just patiently watched him with what he could only assume was with his brows creased together, it was honestly hard to tell with the cowl. 

Batman went to switch jobs with Nightwing, reaching down to apply pressure to the wound but Billy was having none of it.

‘Batman couldn't see him like this!’ was the frantic thought running through his head as he weakly slapped the man's hand away. 

He was going to know! They were all going to know he's Captain Marvel, then he's going to kick him out of the justice league! Oh no no no no... this was all going so bad, if he could just get away from him i’d be like it never happened! 

“Hold still please.” The man asked but Billy still didn't listen; he was freaking out.

He just wanted to find a store. Not get lost, almost get mugged, run into a creepy man with a freakish aura. He didn't want to become a hostage and get shot at, he definitely didn't want to see or be near Batman so yeah he was freaking out. 

His heart was pounding as the Bat just patiently watched him, he reached a gloved hand back into one of the back pouches of his utility belt. 

Billy's breath caught in his throat, what was he gonna pull out... a knife? So he and all his creepy friends could harvest his organs, sell them on the black market. Maybe that's how he can afford all his fancy gadgets or maybe he was a vampire and he's going to steal all his blood.

Thankfully it wasn't an organ harvesting device or a vial to collect Billy's blood but instead a lollipop.

Wait Batman has suckers in his utility belt..?

The man simply offered it to Billy with a soft expression, one drastically different from the annoyed look he held in meetings. Billy just cautiously eyed the thing as Batman held it up with one hand the other moving to put pressure on the wound. 

Billy kinda wanted to take it but at the same time it could be a trick, what id it was poisoned he knows Batman doesn't kill but he still felt pretty skeptical. Shrugging mentally as doing so literally would definitely put him in immense pain he shyly took it. 

Gently unwrapping the candy made him realize how shaky his hands were getting. He wasn't sure he could heal himself anymore but maybe he could stop by Constantines though Chas would definitely kill him if he died in Gotham. 

He honestly could use a break from the city, the place was a nightmare. 

Nightwing informed Batman that an ambulance had arrived, then he turned to face Billy “I'm going to pick you up ok?” Nightwing asked smiling as Billy skeptically put the sucker in his mouth. The boy simply nodded thankful it wasnt Batman picking him up because at that point he'd be pretty embarrassed if Batman carried him out of the store like a damsel in distress.

When they got out of the store who he assumed was the Commissioner ran up to them causing Billy to have a realization, if he got taken to an ambulance he was going to be sent to the hospital. Hospitals mean lots of nosy adults, which leads to social services and no way in hell was Billy going to be put into foster care in Gotham. 

So as he got carried over to the ambulance he made a quick decision, he honestly hoped Nightwing wouldn't hold it against him. 

Taking a deep, painful breath he shifted his body and punched the man square in the jaw. 

Instantly getting dropped onto the ground as the older raven definitely wasn't expecting the hit.

And he ran, as fast and as far as his legs could take him. He didn't know where he was going but he kept going. At first he could hear someone chasing him but after many quick turns and loop arounds he’d finally lost them. 

Skidding to a stop he stumbled over to a wall. He was in yet another shady alleyway, which Gotham seemed to have an unlimited supply of and collapsed. At this point he wasn't sure how he was conscious but he was. 

Now he just needed to fix the hole in his side.

Easy peasy… right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reading your guys comments ill try responding this time round, I just always get anxious and never hit send. 
> 
> 😗👉👈
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed and tell me if you find any mistakes.


	5. When Lemons Give You Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get this chapter out sooner but my brain won't cooperate. How do people focus?

How did the saying go again? 

When lemons give you life.

No that doesn't sound right. 

When lemons are your life…

Billy's tired brain couldn't quite place it but whatever the saying was he was at his wits end with Gotham. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and his bones felt heavy, everything felt fuzzy and dull but he had to keep himself awake. He knew he was in trouble but if he stayed awake he could figure out something.

With weighted limbs he clumsily pulled the delicious sucker out of his mouth before popping it back in again.

It was hard to find any bright side to this, he was bleeding out in a dark damp alleyway in the middle of Gotham but if you thought about it, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. Maybe if you squint your eyes and turned your head a bit you'd be able to see the bright side… barely. 

His mind was muddled the only thought at the moment being the sucker he currently had in his mouth is watermelon flavoured, his favorite it was one good thing to come out of this.

Wait. No, he’s bleeding no matter how good the sucker was he had to heal himself ASAP. 

Unfortunately no matter how much he wanted to keep his trip to Gotham a secret it was a bit too late for that. He needed back up and fortunately he had been saving a spell for emergencies. Constantine taught him a spell that should be only used during serious emergencies but the specifics of the spell was somewhere lost in the fog of his brain. 

For starters he needed something to draw a sigil with, yet the only things around him were walls, trash and rocks. Channeling his inner Batman he thought of what the man had taught him about using what's around you and unsurprisingly he found his solution and it was currently staining his clothes.

Sometimes magic could be gross but that didn’t matter, he was desperate. Discarding his sucker on the ground he took his right hand he put it on the wound to get some blood on his finger. 

Using the blood to draw a simple sigil with a C in the middle on his opposite palm then using the same hand to knock on the ground three times. “enitnatsnoC eM teG” Backwards spells were hard but luckily he’d gotten a few tips from Zatanna. He muttered the spell hoarsely concentrating as best he could with the image of the brit in his head.

Though after a couple minutes he realized the spell didn’t work, he wasn't sure what part he'd gotten wrong but it wasn't like he could practice the spell. It was strictly an emergency thing, he took a sharp breath and attempted a healing spell. Without any potions or sigils I’d be a pretty sloppy healing spell and definitely wouldn’t heal him completely but it was better than nothing. 

He wiped the mark off his hand seeing how the spell didn’t even work and drew a new sign, this time on each palm. 

Now with the symbol of a goddess of health on each palm he cupped his hands over his mouth and whispered a string of words. None of the words he fully understood as they were in ancient greek but now the symbols which were once just drawn in blood were glowing in a rich golden colour, as it was now infused with magic. He leaned forward and pulled up his shirt to put his hands on the entry and exit end of the wound. 

Healing spells were always the worst, it was like accelerated healing without the joys of not feeling your body stitch itself together. 

Once the glowing stopped he barely felt any better as the honestly disturbing feeling of his wounds stitching him together made him feel more nauseous. Billy was honestly curious how he was still conscious instead of passing out on the garbage bags next to him. 

He was simply desperate for a nap but for some reason the universe hated him, as the tell tale crunch of gravel against boot alerted him to someone coming. He couldn't tell if the person was coming into or passing by nevertheless he needed a safer place to crash than a pile of trash by a dumpster.

“Sorry man, promised Alf I'd go over for dinner on Wednesday.” A voice sounded through the painfully quiet alley. Oh no he recognizes that voice, it's the nasty aura man the same one who’d saved him earlier that day. There was a pause before the man spoke again.

“You know for a fact I can't say no to that man.” The man chuckled before continuing, Billy tuned out of whatever was being said to focus on hiding.

With a fuzzy brain Billy moved his uncooperating limbs to attempt to tuck himself out of sight, only to knock over a couple of beer bottles that were around the trash he was hiding by. Making enough noise to completely stop the conversation of whomever creepy man was talking to. 

He had half a heart to just stay hidden but he knew his spot with the trash was less than ideal.

swaying as he stood on shaky knees he turned to look at the man who wasn't that far from him. Stumbling back a bit and sticking his arms out to try and balance himself he took a step away from the man who was now sporting a red helmet, if it weren't for the evident blood loss id probably look as though he was drunk. 

He sloppily tried to get away from the man, who even though was wearing some wired costume his wired aura made it painfully obvious it was the same guy from earlier. It would've been pretty hard to mistake his aura. 

His run away was more of a swaying walk with the grace of a baby on roller skates. The man...blob? moved closer to him, he could tell he was talking by the muffled noises but his ears wouldn't cooperate, eventually the boy simply face planted forward.

He blindly could feel hands on him as his consciousness slipped from his grasp.

Sleep would be nice, he could sleep for just a bit. No biggie, the ground was comfy any way.

____________________

He woke feeling like he'd been repeatedly run over by a truck, his whole body thrummed with magic and pain that often only happened when he was in serious danger. 

He snapped his eyes open and sat up quickly evidently curling in on himself with a hiss of pain. 

“He's not dead!” Was yelled by a little girl who'd been sitting next to him, she jumped up hair swishing as she ran out of view. He took a moment to look around. The place was not bad, obviously a homeless setup with tons of kids. There were mattresses, tents, toys and other such things layne about, it was honestly a lot different from the homeless setups he had back home. 

In fawcett the government was constantly investing in anti homeless architecture wherever tents had been set up instead of finding actual solutions, but this place was in a large abandoned warehouse with tents and lights installed, like people had been living there for quite some time. 

One big thing he noticed was the lack of adults. The oldest person he could spot looked to be nineteen at most, well that was at least until Rancid Man turned the corner, being dragged by the same little girl who just kept chanting “He's alive! He's alive!”

“Yeh i see that” The gruff voice answered, he removed the odd helmet to reveal a man with a domino mask on Billy really had to learn his name, he felt only semi bad about calling him nasty aura man or rancid man, hopefully he couldn't read minds.

“Names Red Hood” He started sitting down on the ground next to the mattress Billy was currently on. And okay maybe he could read minds, Billy shot him a weary look before answering.

“Billy.”

“Found you in an alley bleeding out. Hell happened?” Whoever this Red Hood was asked he couldn't be a bad guy, he had a small army of children all sticking close to him and if you knew street kids you’d know adults are a big no.

But currently he had a roughly six year old girl hanging off him like he was a jungle gym, effectively ruining the scary aura he held. The man simply grabbed her and set her on his lap half heartedly telling her to cut it out. 

Taking in the man's appearance it landed on the big red bat on the man's chest, despite the obvious pain Billy jumped up and pointed at It accusingly as he scrambled off the bed.

“You work with Batman!?”

“Hardly, why, you a fan?” He asked with a smirk but it dropped when he took in the kids defensive stiffness. 

“Gods, I’m so dead” Billy muttered to himself in frustration. Nothing today was going good. He just wanted to stay away from the bats but it was like they were there around every corner.

“Why, what happened?” The Red Hood stood propping the little girl on his hip, concern etched into his features as he tried to keep his stance unthreatening. 

“Did he send you after me!?”

“Who are you talking about? Listen, kid, just calm down for a second and talk to me. I can help if you're in trouble?”

“I was so stupid! I punched him in the face!” Billy paced around a bit grabbing a fistfull of his hair to give a frustrated tug.

“Who?” 

“Nightwing!” Billy answered, running a hand down his distressed face. The concern instantly changed into a big grin across the man's face as he bit his inner cheek to keep himself from laughing. He took a deep breath and schooled his expression to a very serious one putting the girl down and crouching to look Billy in the eyes, still keeping his hands to himself. 

The man spoke slowly with a grave tone “If you ever see Nightwing that blue bastard again... sock him in the face.” The serious expression was broken as he grinned mischievously at the boy. He stood clapping his hands together twice getting the attention of all the kids who were scattered about.

“Life lesson kids, from Uncle Hood! If you ever see Nightwing you are 100% allowed to punch, kick and throw small rocks at him (nothing bigger than your fist though)” This got a collection of snickers from the kids as they went back to what they were doing.

Yeesh what did he have against the vigilante, Nightwing was a delight whenever he'd seen him in the watchtower. He honestly felt bad for punching him but he needed to get away thus the punch to the face; he was just scared of being on the bats radar.

The little girl just looked at Hood innocently “Why? Is he a bad guy?” she knit her brows together with an adorable tilt of her head.

“No, but he is a pain in the ass.” The man smirked down at the girl before resuming his conversion with Billy. “Don't worry bout Nightwing, none of the bats are allowed round here. This place is under my protection from everyone, stay and go as you please but I suggest you stay tonight, been an arkham breakout and from the looks of things you keep ending up in trouble.”

He thanked the man, maybe Hood wasn't so bad, Billy flipped when he’d first met the man and although his aura was still hard to look at without being alarmed he felt pretty safe around the older.

Maybe he could look into fixing the odd aura later, for the moment he just needed to lay low and heal up his wound. Now that he was feeling better and could actually think, he remembered the sorcerer's safety kit in his bag. It was like a medical pack but instead of sterile wipes, bandages and gloves it held magical supplies to help with healing spells.

Now that he thought about it…

“Where's my bag?”

“Bag? When I picked you up there was nothing there?” Hood furrowed his brow in thought as he braided the little girl's hair, the two sat on the ground the younger humming some song as he gently pulled at knots.

Trying to remember what had happened he racked his brain, it was pretty fuzzy till it hit him. The bag was still in the electronics store, wherever that was in Gotham. This was not good. Not only did it have everything he needed to survive in Gotham but as well as his justice league communicator, if anyone got a hold of it they'd have direct access to the justice league with its tech. 

This was bad, this was very very bad. Not only had Batman given several lectures to the team about losing or breaking them but he targeted one of the lectures at Captain Marvel when Billy had accidentally broken his. 

He looked at Hood a little frantic “I need to go get it! It has everything, I have to go.” Billy was getting pretty frantic as he started to leave but Hood grabbed his arm. “You can't go out there Billy there's been an Arkham breakout, it's dangerous.”

“No you don't understand! I need to get it!” That store was definitely a crime scene now, everything there was going to be marked evidence if he didn't get his bag now he might never see it again. He wasn't ready to kiss his sweet communicator goodbye, no way in hell was he going to be forced to tell Batman that he'd lost the thing in Gotham of all places. 

The man just sighed, popping on his helmet and getting up. “Alright let's go, m’ not letting you go on your own pipsqueak”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did sooo many corrections for this chapter my LD been acting up an I swear to god half this story had a red squiggly line before I started correcting.
> 
> yesterday while doing other stuff I wrote (cake) ckake and (Canadian) canadiannies so my brain be a little broke rn
> 
> But... Thanks for reading and for the lovely comments in the last chapter :)


	6. Why Did This Keep Happening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a bit to get done but here it is hope you enjoy.

When he’d first left with the Red Hood he’d expected the walk to be somewhat eventful, it very much wasn't. He honestly just wanted to go on his own to avoid any questions but having the man around wasn't as bad as he first thought. People were less likely to come up to the pair as they walked.

The streets were weakly lit by street lamps and there wasn’t a star to be seen, he could just barely make out the moon poking out of the smog of the city. Gotham was drastically different from Fawcett, whereas it was hard to see any stars in Gotham, you could make out constellations easily from the streets in Fawcett.

Billy was starting to feel really homesick even though it had only been one day in the city he was already missing the bright buildings and happy faces. But here he was wondering in the dark with a bat.

It was hard to tell what Hood was thinking with the helmet, but it was evident he was tense as he instinctively clutched his gun holsters every now and again. He attempted to keep the edge off by keeping the conversation light and casual. 

“You look pretty glum” , well less casual and more awkward.

Billy simply hummed in response, because how was he supposed to answer that? To be honest he was completely drained, the only thing keeping him going was the reminder that once he gets his bag he can sleep.

“If it's about punching Nightwing, don't worry bout it. I’ve punched the guy plenty of times.” 

The image of a cool rescuer who's nice to kids was starting to dwindle considerably fast. Billy didn't know what was up with the man but he sounded pretty pleased about his attacks against the other bats. 

Why was he even fighting with Nightwing they were both bats and on the same team... weren't they? 

Hood seemed to not care or maybe not notice Billy's unease towards the man as they weaved through streets, the younger of the two leading the way. Even though Billys a tourist and had no clue where he was going. 

When he'd escaped Nightwing he was running blindly and was barely coherent enough to tell where he was going but now Hood was following him like he knew the way. Even though he was pretty sure they'd passed the same gratified wall at least three times. 

The man didn't seem to take notice of the lost pattern they were walking as he took off his helmet to pop a cigarette in his mouth.  
He seemed more focused on getting his lighter to work as he had his helmet tucked under his arm and a cigarette loosely hanging from his lips. 

His struggle with the lighter lasted quite some time as the man got more and more frustrated with each click of the empty lighter. The more he clicked the thing the more Billy had the urge to light it with his out of frustration, the older seemed dead set on lighting the dart anyway so it’d be so convenient. 

At least when he was with Constantine the brit used magic most of the time to light his darts so the annoying clicking wouldn't be a problem.

Billy resisted the urge to let out an annoyed sigh as they passed by the same graffitied wall yet again and the clicking of hoods light repeated until it finally stopped with a cry of “hey!” coming from the older. 

Billy turned to look at the man only to find Red Robin standing next to him with Hood lighter when on earth Had Red arrived? He hadn't even heard the vigilante until he took Hood's lighter. “Agent A is gonna be pissed when he sees you smoking again.”

“He won't know, not gonna see him till wednesday.” Hood leaned closer to Red in a sad attempt to grab the lighter but the younger simply stepped back holding it out of reach.“Change of plans we need you at the cave pronto.”

“Can't you see me and my new friend are busy?” In response he only got an unimpressed look from Red Robin, Hood simply threw his head back in a long annoyed sigh before walking a bit away from Billy and telling the boy to stay put so he could talk to the other vigilante.

It wasn't hard to hear them, they were barely away from Billy so their ‘private’ conversation was barely private. “Batman’s been calling you for hours.”

“Yeh and I’ve been ignoring him for hours. Go away, I’m busy.”

“Look he won’t tell me whats going on until we’re all together at the cave, all I heard is that N and B found something at the robbery they were at and it has something to do with the Justice League.” That statement alone made Billy's stomach drop, what was wrong with the League?

Was there a fight he was missing? He really needed to get his communicator as quickly as possible. 

“Why doesn't he just go to them then?” Hood asked with an annoyed huff voicing the very thoughts Billy had himself. He knew Batman always liked keeping things within the bats but if it was a Justice League issue then why wasn't he going to the Justice League. 

“I don’t know, now come on. Do you know how hard it is to find you?” Red went to grab Hood’s arm but the man stepped back.

“Hopefully very, look I can’t right now. Promised to help this kid.” Hood jestured over to Billy who just awkwardly shifted he honestly didn't care if the man left, he wanted to go alone in the first place. He'd be able to heal his wound quicker with no one around. 

“I hate to say this but the kid can wait.” Billy could tell Red Robin wasn't going to leave Hood alone and he very much didn't want two vigilantes following him round, so he took his chance to speak up. 

“Hey, I could just go on my own.” the young boy offered taking a couple steps closer to the costumed pair. “Yeh and get shot again? No way.” Red Robin cleared his throat and whispered something to the older man who let out another long over dramatic sigh. 

Hood finally agreed to go with Red as long as Billy promised to go back to the camp where all the other kids were. “Yeh i'll go back.” Billy said though what he failed to mention was he was going to get his bag before he went back to the other kids. 

No matter how bad Billy felt about lying, finding his communicator was a top priority. The two vigilantes left into the night with the distinctive sound of grappling guns wixing them away off to wherever the bat cave was. 

He took a moment to compose himself, although his wound was partially healed it still thrummed with pain and certain movements made Billy's vision darken the same way when you stand too fast and your head swims. He knew he'd been walking in circles so now was the time to find an alternative path, luckily he had one right next to him.

Years running around Fawcett left him agile and quick so climbing a fire escape was no problem, the only issue was how aged and shaky it was. He was terrified the thing would collapse with every step he made on it but eventually he'd made it to the top in one piece. 

The roof was lined with rocks and had trash lying about evidence of others coming up here so he made his time up there short. Simply needed to find a main road to follow, he knew the store couldn't've been that far but when he peered over the edge we wanted to throw something the store they'd been trying to find was right across the street of the loop they'd been walking.

This had to be some stupid joke, he didnt know he was that bad at directions. Climbing down took less time than getting up, as he ran across the street to the now closed off store. 

For a place covered in police tape there was a surprising lack of police... 

He was pretty sure crime scenes should have at least one cop guarding the evidence or something but he couldn't see anyone so he made a quick move into the store, ducking under the yellow police tape and trying his best to tip toe over glass.

Every step left a loud crunch as he looped around the store searching for his bag, but after the third loop around the dimly lit store the dreadful thought of his bag being gone hit him. 

Where on earth could it be? 

Had the police taken it as evidence? 

If the police took it Billy wasn’t sure if he could get it back maybe he could just ask for it back? But whatever police station was it was at would they even give it back.

This situation was becoming more complicated by the second, maybe he could do a tracking spell but even then he’d only just started learning about spells like that. Maybe it was time to ask Constantine for help, he had to admit he was getting a little too in over his head. 

Hopefully the Brit wouldn’t be too mad about Billy going to Gotham without company. The man was always going on about how insufferable the bats are and how much he hates Gotham. 

“Hey kid, you're not supposed to be here.”

Billy turned at the newfound voice squinting as he was met with a flashlight shining at his face. The woman sheepishly lowered the flashlight before crouching down to Billy’s height. 

Billy couldn’t help the action feel a bit comforting, “Hi sweetie Im Officer Moroz what are you doing here at..” she stopped looking down at her wrist “almost nine at night?” She brushed a loose strand of blond hair out of her face and behind her glasses.

“I lost my bag” This was perfect! She'd be able to get him his bag, if she was the one guarding the area then she should know where the evidence is. 

“It’s black got some duct tape on the straps and bottom and it’s about.. this big” he motioned roughly with his hands. 

“Oh alright why don’t you come with me and we’ll get your bag.” Smiling kindly she got up and offered a hand to Billy who reluctantly took it. 

He wouldn’t say he hated cops, it was just that wherever the cops were social services was lurking around the corner... hopefully she wouldn't start asking where his parents were and why he was out so late alone. 

He was led to a police car that was parked off to the side and escorted into the back seat, he couldn’t help the uneasiness he felt when he heard the doors lock. The woman hopped into the front seat and started to drive. 

It passed in relative silence, he only wished there was music playing in the car to ease the tension but the woman didn’t seem to mind the quiet atmosphere. She just tapped the steering wheel to whatever tune she was humming. 

After five minutes Billy saw a police station up ahead, finally things could go back to normal. Once he got his bag he could walk back to Hood's place and sleep with the other kids, he knew he’d end up sleeping on the streets but having Hood look after the building was a lot more promising than sleeping out in the open.

As they neared the police station Billy noticed the car not slowing down, maybe there was a different spot to park the car and that’s why she didn’t stop. But as soon as they were next to the station they’d passed it completely. 

Billy flicked his gaze over to the woman who hadn't taken notice or was simply ignoring Billy’s uneasiness. They were too far at this point for them to be stopping in a car park so Billy tried his best to calm his worries. 

Maybe they were going to a different police station… don't panic, she's a cop he's relatively safe.

Fifteen agonizing minutes later and there was another police station, the boy let out a sigh he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. 

But as soon as they were there they were passing again, why didn’t they stop at that one?

“Where are we going?” Billy asked nervously playing with the hem of his shirt, avoiding the obvious blood stain. 

Why hadn't she questioned the blood..? 

The woman continued humming not paying attention to Billy’s question so he asked again. 

“Where are we going?” She didn’t answer. 

“Hello?” At this point she was just blatantly ignoring him and his pool of dead grew, this was odd why was she ignoring him.

The car turned down an off road and the once smooth road was replaced with bumpy gravel.

Something was wrong, Billy discreetly tried to open the car door because at this point he was questioning if this woman Evan was a police officer.

The doors wouldn't budge but what was he expecting in a police car… Was this even a real police car?

The car turned once before stopping in front of an old looking building, it was dark and the only thing lighting it was the lights of the car. He looked out the windows to get a better look of where he was only to notice the lack of other buildings, he couldn’t tell if they were still in Gotham or outside of it. 

But then he heard the distinctive clicking of a loaded gun and his heart sank, why did this keep happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!


	7. Gotham Smells Like A Rats @ss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm so sorry this took so long! I don't like this chapter that much but if I didn't post it id probably never get around to it so here it is.

The cave was eerily quiet with tension as the family stared at the contents of a lost backpack spewn about the table. Jason and Tim had just arrived to discuss what was so important only to find Batman analyzing an array of odd items all contents from the heavily duct taped bag.

Tim cleared his throat to get the attention of Bruce, Dick and Damian, then shot them a questioning gaze, rounding the table with Jason. 

“Found this in a kids backpack.” Dick spoke up showing Jason and Tim the small metal device...

A justice league communicator Jason whistled, “Dame how'd a kid manage to pocket one of those?” 

“That's the problem, it's pretty beat up and if it wasn't for the id chip inside of it I'd have no clue who it belongs to. It's Captain Marvels.” Bruce glared at the device reaching across the table to open a little pouch that hadn't been examined yet. Poring the items onto the table they eyed the small odd items, Bruce furrowed his brow.

None of this made sense. 

The communicator was the only way to get ahold of Captain Marvel, not even Bruce knew his secret identity. Captains file is extremely thin compared to the rest of the leagues and even Bruce's contingency plan for the man is sloppy at best. As much as Batman hates having someone as secretive as Captain Marvel on the team, he's too big of a risk to have as an enemy. 

Finding out whoever the kid is might help with finding out who Marvel is... or simply send the bats on a wild goose chase. 

“Facial ids can’t find him on any records in Gotham and without a name we can only assume he's from Fawcett.” Bruce turned to the computer and pulled up a shaky feed from Batman’s cowl. 

From the poor quality it was evident the camera got damaged in the fight but even with the poor quality it still sparked a light of recognition in Jason as well as Tim. 

“Seriously?” Tim breathed out a laugh seeing the same bloodied kid they'd just seen moments ago although this child was bleeding profusely and giving batman an odd look.

“We can only assume he’s involved with some bad people from the conte-“

“Shhh shhh shut up” Jason cut off putting a finger up to silence Bruce who looked unamused by Jason’s actions. “Ok so your telling me we’re looking for the same kid I just had with me before Timbo whisked me off over here?” 

“You had him?” Dick perked up, with the lack of name and blurry image of the child things weren't looking too good but with this revelation, their investigation could progress.

“His name's Billy, you know now that I think about it he wasn’t too pleased with me wearing a bat logo. Kids scared Nightwings gonna kill him.” Hood chuckled, though he was still annoyed by being dragged all the way to the cave.

“Richard is incapable of such actions.” The demon child scowled, dick was getting ready to make a weak protest but was (rudely) cut off by Bruce.

“What do you know about him?” He asked in a toned down demand ignoring Damian’s comments.

“His name’s Billy, definitely homeless, probably a meta... Found him passed out in an ally covered in blood but his wound was already mostly healed. Seems pretty skittish ‘round adults but could be just bats.”

Bruce let out a long sigh the man was unsettled by finding a justice league communicator in the child's bag. They'd searched the bag for any identification or information on where he lives to return it but all they found was a red hoodie, tons of loose change and bills, a plethora of odd items which he could only assume to be magic and the communicator. 

“Go get him.” 

“Yeh yeh, told him to head back to the other kids at the set up. I'll just go get him ya know before Timmers even brought me here we were looking for that bag.” Jason put back on his helmet and hopped on his bike.“what am I supposed to do with him?”

“Bring him back here for interrogation, use one of the hidden zeta tubes to get here, or sedate him don't want to risk outing where the cave is.” and with that Jason was off leaving everyone else to mull over the facts and hopefully piece something together.

What is a homeless meta kid doing with a justice league communicator?

From the contents of the bag Nightwing and Batman deduced the kid was most likely active in the accultic and not the harmless ouija board at a sleepover kind. No normal child carried around such odd items most were unidentifiable, besides evident things like chalk, salt and dried flowers. Though the intended use of ced items were beyond Bruce. 

He wanted to identify the items to hopefully figure out why the kid had the communicator but unfortunately Zatanna was unavailable for the next few weeks. 

Bruce had called all his children back to the cave for a meeting if the kid had a communicator, who knows if anyone else has access to their com links but the fact that Jason knew where Billy is was a relief. 

Even though he doesn't approve of some of his son's more brutal tactics he is still very proud of his boy. Bruce had never been to Jason's protected area but he did often send food there to help out, so knowing Jason helped out Billy warmed Bruce's heart. 

Batman was obviously skeptical about the boy and his origins, though now with a name and location Tim was able to find that his name is Billy Batson. He's a foster kid who's been missing for years. His uncle claimed the child ran away when the police investigated his disappearance and for some reason never got charged for failure to report a missing minor.

Without all the facts it was hard to figure out what happened to the boy after he stopped living with his uncle. 

Batman could only picture the worst, judging by the contents of his bag they could only assume he was taken in by criminals. The boy coincidentally entered the electronics store before it was robbed and was the only hostage targeted, he also while clearly injured ran away from Nightwing. 

Billy may be working with the robbers but they did shoot him and Jason said he found the kid alone... perhaps the robbers deemed the kid despencible, promising the kid money but decided to just kill him off instead.

Then there was the whole magic or meta thing his theory about Billy working with the robbers could be wrong.

Batman had no way of telling how long Billy had been in Gotham, he might not even be living here that would explain why he's never been caught in Gotham.

This whole situation was on a time crunch if the kid was involved in magic he could be in a lot of danger. Since Zatanna is unavailable he'd have to convince Constantine to come over. That task alone would take a while. The best course of action would be to go to Constantine sense Jason was gone getting Billy. It’ll take a while for Jason to get the child so he'll Have to spend however long it takes convincing Constantine to take a look at the magic items.

Their search for Billy lasted hours and was unsuccessful; he was nowhere to be found. Which left Bruce at a dead end he’d looked over all the items continually and all he could come off with was the possibility of Billy being involved with magic. 

He hated magic it’s rules were odd and always threw a wrench in his cases he only had one lead, unfortunately that lead was an extremely annoying British one. 

John Constantine is an absolute headache to work with, unfortunately it was all they had to find this kid. 

Seeing as Jason couldn’t find the kid there plan for Constantine to examine the items Quickly before Bruce gets too ticked off changed. They now needed Constantine to do a locator spell Using the hoodie to. Though as soon but as the man got there he stopped dead in his tracks. “Bloody hell mate, what happened to your city!” he exclaimed bringing his hand up to cover his nose 

Batman turned to John questionately cape swishing giving the brit a look to continue. “ Has your whole city been cursed!? It smells like a rats ass in ‘ere!”

“What nonsense are you going on about?” Robin growled defensively, earning a swat to the back of the head from Jason. 

“This whole place smells like fucking garbage and the air its... thick?” Constantine explained taking a moment to properly word it, still grimacing at the supposed stench.

“I just brought you to identify these items”

“Sure mate, I'm going to have to take a look ‘round the city though, somethings not right...”

“Hmmm, as I was saying before I need you to identify these things.” Bruce crossed his arms watching the Brit examine and pick up every odd item.

“It's a medical kit,” He announced, picking up some dried flowers that oddly looked like skulls. “This is snapdragon it heals minor breaks in bones.” He set down the flower picking up a thin stack of small papers each with different sigils drawn onto them, Constantine furrowed his brow as he sorted through the stack of papers. 

“Where’d you get this? These are my markings I wrote these.”

He held up one paper with an intricate design “Heals cuts.” he held up another with a slightly different design. “Heals burns.” He went through five more until he got to the last one and paused taking in a sharp breath. 

His grip on the pages tightened as his brow furrowed. “whose things are these?”

“Some kid named Billy Batson, do you know him?” At the name John’s head snapped up to meet Bruce’s eyes. “Where is he.” He demanded with a slight urgence to his voice no one had heard from the man before. John looked at the end of the table and picked up the sweater cursing under his breath. 

“Who is this kid? Why are you so worried?” Jason voiced although Constantine looked simply annoyed, they could tell the man was panicked. 

“That kid is a hotspot for ancient powerful magic, he may not know it but he could fatten this city if he damn well pleases.”

“Wait so this kids going to flatten this city!?” Nightwing asked it was a hard question to answer without diving into hours and hours of explanation of how magic conscious and subconscious works. 

“It’s a subconscious thing no one his age with such a strong connection to raw unfiltered magic should be in Gotham.”

“So what this kid is like a magic bomb waiting to explode?” The rest of the bats tightened their grips on their weapons to Tim’s question. 

“Not exactly, I warned him never to come here but of course he didn’t listen. Gotham’s got a rotten aura, caused by the citizens because he’s a child with so much power Gotham’s aura taints his judgment and morals. It rots his magic and bends his mind probably explains why your city's aura smells like shit.”

Constantine chuckled bitterly “No doubt his magic led him into awful situations to convince him to leave but he's a bloody stubborn one and probably ignored what the magic was telling him.”

Expression darkening a bit John put down the red roodie he’d previously been clutching tightly. “He may not realize this now but stepping into a shit show like Gotham without charms and protection puts him and everyone else in a lot of danger. “

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I'll get the next chapter done sooner. Writing has been really hard for me lately idk even reading feels like I'm banging my head against a wall but thanks for reading. 
> 
> Please give suggestions if you have any this chapter just feels off to me and idk what it is so feedback is nice. I also love predictions there so fun to read.


	8. Ritualistic Or Sacrificial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello I've returned to gift you another chapter. Ive had no energy to write with having to drag myself to school everyday during Covid, but here I am.

It all happened so fast, he was supposed to be a superhero but there he was in the back of a strangers car with a dart sticking out of his arm. 

He numbly pulled it out, gaze flickering back to the woman who held a sympathetic smile as she tossed the gun onto the passenger's seat beside her. 

She cooed at him and reached her arm out to lovingly caress his cheek. He would have slapped it away but he'd already had lost feeling in his arms. They weighed like bricks and pulled him down so he simply turned his cheek away. What else could he do? 

The drug started to really take effect as his head lurched forward while his body slumped. The only thing holding him up was his seatbelt. He tirelessly tried to move his head but it was pointless his muscles were useless. 

He couldn't feel a thing as the woman unclicked her seatbelt and got out to open and unbuckle Billy's useless body so she could drag his limp body into the opposing building shed parked outside of.

Solomon was itching at the back of his mind but it was hopeless he couldn't even feel the tongue in his own mouth and his eyes were starting to lose their strength. He fought to keep them open but his blinking started to drag out.

She carried him like the child he is propped on her hip with a gentle grasp on his lower back using her other hand to gently card through his hair while also keeping his now limp neck from bobbing his head back like a newborn infant. 

Billy was determined to keep his eyes open. He watched the car slowly getting further away as he was carried up to the large gothic looking house. 

Walked along long dimly lit corridors with practiced ease. He wasn't sure if he should be embarrassed or take it as a small victory but he knew for certain he was drooling on her shoulder. 

He'd take it as a win.

This crazy lady certainly deserved drool on her shoulder.

The further she went the more bizarre the building appeared. There were tapestries lining the wall each depicting some feral demon rising from the ground and bringing damnation to the living. Each tapestry became more gruesome and bloody with carefully stitched images of severed bodys and disfigured faces. 

Billy was getting increasingly more tempted to give up his fight against his droopy eyes as the tapestries became more and more unbearable to look at but evidently didn't when the woman suddenly stopped outside a large set of oak doors. She knocked rather politely for a crazy kidnapper lady though the knock was pointless as she entered regardless.

Nothing prepared Billy for what he'd see next. She shifted Billy's body into an awkward bridal style position with his head rested against her chest and carried him up to an odd clocked man who presumably had been waiting for the two as he stood with a small glowing rock floating in his grasp. 

The ‘police officer’ placed Billy onto a table and his head fell to the side. 

That's when he saw it... 

A long mahogany table with multiple children sat neatly all holding hands around the circular table; only two seats were empty and Billy could bet his two good shoes one of those spots were for him and most likely the wired cloaked man.

All the kids appeared to be in a daze as they slowly blinked in unison face sans expression. Most were obviously street kids and he even recognized some from missing posters. They all had a shard of whatever the pink glowing stone was embedded in their forehead.

It was unsettling though it made Billy painfully aware of what was to come the kids were set up for some ritualistic or sacrificial spell. His gaze flickered back to the hooded man who was now gently lowering the pink glowing crystal to Billys forehead as the lady held his face up. 

The glowing rock pulsed as it connected to his forehead and although Billy couldn't feel a thing from whatever drug he'd been shot with he could feel a sharp excruciating pain piercing his skull. his body itched to move or cry do anything really but he was trapped, his vision blanked and.... 

Billy woke with a start bolting upright with a cry of fear, breathing heavily as he reached up to rub his pounding head the crystal was gone. 

He was sat up on a comfy plush bed, Superman sheets and a Green lantern comforter. He was in a child’s bedroom that much was evident from the posters of the Justice League scattered about the walls.

The floor had multiple toys haphazardly spewn, legos and colouring books shoved into piles to imitate the notion of clean.

His gaze drifted to the window. Rays of sun gently hitting an orange stuffed animal popped on top of a wicker toy chest… Tawny. 

His stuffed tiger was there, why was he there whose room was this anyway? How did he get there? Billy got up to grab the plush when a woman entered the room. “Billy are you alright sweetheart? I heard you scream, was it another bad dream?”  
.  
.  
.  
“Mom?” Billy choked out just above a whisper dropping Tawny and stumbling into his mother’s embrace. 

“Yeh? Are you feeling alright? Dad should've let you watch that movie last night huh?”she wrapped her arms around him in a warm loving embrace he thought he'd never be able to have again. Eyes welling with tears that he couldn't help but to allow slip down his cheeks. 

“Mommy” he croaked out in a strangled sob.

“Shh it's alright sweetheart, it was just a movie.” Marilyn stroked her sons hair lovingly. “Though, I might have to knock some sense into your father, you are way too young to be watching movies like that.”

“What? Movie? I thought I'd never see you again because your… you.. There was a...” That was odd. Why was he so upset? His mom was right there. 

Billy winced as another sharp stabbing pain shot through his head “I think I have a headache.” He mumbled stepping back from his mother's embrace to look at her. 

“Why don’t you come down for breakfast and i'll go get you some water and medicine.” She suggested stroking Billy’s hair and brushing her hand against his forehead to feel his temperature.

Billy’s mind felt groggy with a mist of confusion he could tell this wasn’t right something was off but he wasn't sure. So he nodded and followed his mother out of the bedroom and down the hall.

He watched as her hair lightly bounced with each step she took down the stairs. He can hardly remember what he dreamt of but something was off. Taking a deep breath and continued down the stairs. It didn't matter anyway it was just a stupid dream, whatever the dream was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to do some writing tomorrow so hopefully ill have a chapter or another one shot Fic that's been sitting in my head for weeks for Sunday so stay tuned! :)

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like all my stories are what crappy thing can I do to my favourite character.
> 
> but....
> 
> Thanks for reading id love feed back or suggestions.


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